1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to boat hulls, and more particularly to boat hulls that have both asymmetrical and symmetrical water contact surfaces.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are generally two types of hull designs used with small watercrafts—mono-hulls and multi-hulls. Mono-hulls are usually divided into displacement hulls, planning hulls or semi-displacement hulls. Mono-hulls are typically flat bottom hauls that partially extend and displace more water than multi-hulls. When a mono-hull moves through water, the hull is gradually lifts out of the water and begins to ‘plane’ when a specific velocity is reached Unfortunately, considerable amount of power is needed to reach and to maintain a ‘planning’ speed.
Two important benefits of mono-hulls are that they provide a smooth ride at lower speeds normally desired by recreational boaters, and have good turning characteristics.
Multi-hulls typically have two or more parallel hull sections or two outer pontoons separated by an air space, called a tunnel, that extends longitudinally under the hull. Because the two hull sections or pontoons are the only structures in contact with the water and because a cushion of air is produced inside the tunnel to lift and keep the rear portion of the hull out of the water, multi-hulls ‘plane’ at lower speeds and therefore, require less power to reach and maintain a plane. Because they typically displace less water than mono-hulls, they are especially useful in shadow water environments and in situations where the watercraft must land upright on a beach.
Two disadvantages of multi-hulls is that they are more reactive to waves at low speeds and have poor turning characteristics (i.e. undergo more sideway sliding in turns).
What is needed is a watercraft that uses a hybrid hull design that takes advantage of the benefits of a mono-hull and the benefits of a multi-hull.